Spyridonova L.V., Kurbanov A.V. “Teaching Methodology of Poetic Art in the Leichoudes Brothers’ School (Based on Materials from Manuscript Collections of the Late 17th Century).” Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 24. 2025, pp. 303–363. https: ...

Abstract

This article reconstructs and analyzes the methodology of teaching Greek versification in the Moscow school of the Leichoudes brothers (the future Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy). The study is based on the surviving copies of the Leichoudes’ textbook “On the Poetic or Metrical Art” (Περὶ τῆς ποιητικῆς εἴτε μετρικῆς τέχνης) and unique manuscript collections of student exercises from the late 17th century. The theoretical course is analyzed and compared with two other known courses by prominent Greek teachers of the 17th century: Gerasimos Vlachos (British Library Add. Ms 8240) and Theophilos Korydalleus, as well as the Hellenistic manual of Hephaestion and Byzantine scholia. The structure of the course, which combined the study of the theoretical foundations of ancient metrics with practical assignments, is examined. The assignments consisted of paraphrasing exemplary texts, primarily Byzantine hymnography and works by contemporary Greek poets, into various poetic meters. This approach allowed students to master the formal aspects of versification (meters, feet, genres) and experiment with language, imagery, and style, adapting traditional models to new tasks. Special attention was given to creating texts that responded to the current political agenda of the era — the war of the Holy League against the Ottoman Empire — reflecting both pan-European cultural trends and the objectives of the Russian state. The appendix publishes two collections of previously unknown or unattributed student poems in Greek from the manuscripts Iviron, No. 98, and Russian State Library, f. 173, no. 331, accompanied by Russian translations and the texts of poetic prototypes that served as models for the exercises.